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The recent $6.6 million settlement of a civil case filed by the Napa County District Attorney’s Office against Clover Flat Landfill pertains only to incidents that occurred in 2018/2019.
The remaining issues include the ongoing wildfire risks linked to operating a fire-prone industrial facility in a high wildfire risk area, as well as the handling of large amounts of contaminated waste in a watershed and floodplain.
Although the company has announced long-term plans to close Clover Flat Landfill, every day that Napa County Supervisors, the administration, and the garbage company delay closing operations poses risks to the local community and environment.
The current plan to keep Clover Flat Landfill as a transfer station after it closes does not address the fire risk. The wildfire threat in the Clover Flat area was recently highlighted by this summer’s large Pickett Fire, which started on a property next to Clover Flat and stayed active for 17 days. In 2020, the Glass Fire burned through Clover Flat Landfill. In 2017, the landfill was less than 10 miles south of where the Tubbs Wildfire began.
Contamination concerns also persist with the proposal of potential transfer stations at Clover Flat, located at the top of the Napa Valley watershed or water resource area, or at Upper Valley Disposal Service Whitehall Lane (UVDS), in a floodplain and situated in the Rutherford Bench wine-growing region, close to the Napa River. There is also the issue of substandard compost being processed at the site, which is widely dispersed across the Napa Valley’s valley floor and hill areas through both private sales and local government contracts.
Napa County is shortsighted for not proactively protecting its water sources, land prices, and the wine industry to appease a profit-driven garbage company with a history of large political donations and little regard for their employees, the community, the environment, or the law.
We continue to work at the state level, engaging with the California State Water Board, Cal/OSHA, Cal/EPA, and California League of United Latin American Citizens to address incidents at the UVDS/Clover Flat Landfill from 2019 to the present. This includes ongoing fires, contamination events, and impacts on workers and communities that persisted long after the 2018/2019 incidents settled in the $6.6 million agreement.
While many people have renewed hope in the current Napa County Supervisors and leadership regarding issues with UVDL/Clover Flat Landfill, actions have sadly remained largely the same. The Upper Valley Waste Management Agency (UVWMA) JPA board is composed of City Council members from St. Helena, Yountville, and Calistoga, along with Napa County Supervisors Cottrell and Manfree. Current supervisors and the UVWMA board seem to go out of their way to accommodate this waste company. The UVWMA Board has failed to acknowledge or even schedule discussions on environmental violations, health impacts, or provide transparency for remote meetings—standards upheld by other local government boards. The UVWMA Board continues to allow the Napa County Public Works Director to serve as the Director of UVWMA, despite years of significant violations, fires, contamination incidents, including one involving unregulated radioactive waste. There is concern about a potential conflict of interest, as the attorney for the UVWMA-JPA is also the City Attorney for Yountville, representing both sides of the same contracts.
Another example of the ‘business as usual’ approach with local government and local garbage companies was the unanimous approval by Napa County Supervisors (Ramos, Gallagher, Alessio, Cottrell, Manfree) of continuing waste contracts with the Napa City waste company that has 25% ownership from the family that owned Upper Valley Disposal Service/Clover Flat Landfill. No analysis of fire risk, environmental review, worker safety review, or discussion of company profit margin in relation to public garbage fees was required.
The impacts on the individual waste workers who have also been significantly affected by the gross negligence of Upper Valley Disposal Service/Clover Flat Landfill, are being brought to the CA. State Level as well.
Time marches on, and people quickly forget the history of these waste operations, but those who have not forgotten are the wife and four children who suddenly and tragically lost their father/husband to a preventable workplace death at Upper Valley Disposal, Whitehall Lane. Despite the death, no substantial changes were made to the traffic flow infrastructure at UVDS. What is also not forgotten are the long-term health issues and injuries suffered by many employees who have worked at these waste operations, as well as the huge financial losses to the families of the half dozen workers who, without notice, were laid off by the garbage company despite what they told the community about maintaining the workforce.
What remains are two poorly located waste facilities, which, despite their horrendous track record, have been awarded renewed government contracts. The former UVDS/Clover Flat owner remains in upper management, even under the new ownership. The current UVWMA Board could make a difference and change course, but they have not, which puts the local community and environment at risk. That , too, is tragic.
Geoff Ellsworth
Anne Wheaton
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